I'm having a difficult time with VATS. When fighting fire-ants, for instance, trying to target antennas is not easy. I have to move the stick around sometimes 10-15 times before it'll finally land on the antenna target.

I'm just awful at this game. One of the first missions involve you having to evade police. I've replayed it 3 times and just can't do it. I can get out of range of the cops briefly, but they eventually catch up and bam, arrested or shot to death.

Any chance of a hints and tips thread for GTA4? I've never played any GTAs before and this sucker is kind of difficult. I'm not very good at driving, and the stealing cars thing just leads me to get shot to death by cops. How about some help for a newbie?

I was reading this thread and got to Malichai11's and I was amazed at just how bitter and expressive I was at the time. Three years later and I would've kept all that to myself. It was gratifying to see some others come to the same conclusion later on. I seemed to be the only one, initially, to have been so annoyed by the ending (or lack thereof) of the series.

Hey Hank, I'm trying to find my birthmother and I don't have her name. I was put up for adoption in Iowa (closed records). I hired a company to track her down about 6 months ago and it seems that they aren't going to come through. Would it be of value to me to hire an Iowa-based PI to do this search?

I'm sorry, perhaps I was a bit out of line because of how freakishly disappointed I was. We're all entitled to our opinions, and for me to assume that you are taking yours simply because of how I took mine is egotistical. For me to not respond until now was cowardly. I'm sorry.

Again, a wheel or not, it's paradoxical and idiotic in my opinion. Stephen King's weakness as a writer has always been his piss poor endings. Why the Dark Tower series was so good was because he wrote 7 books and only 1 ending. I should've known he'd fuck up the ending since he's screwed up so many before. Roland saves the universe, but has to do it all over again because he forget his horn? Pshaw. Stupid. I hope the next time he doesn't save the universe and it all ends. Screw you Gan.

Ka as a circle? So no one is allowed to change or grow? Instead they must be stuck in a cycle forever? I don't agree with that whatsoever. Again, I feel it's a lazy writer's way to get out of having to find an ending for an epic. I look for Robert Jordan to do the same thing, and for George Martin to find a way to complete his.

His endings all suffer from the same problem. They are too quick, easy, and seem to be wrapped up from an author who had no idea how to end his books. The Stand's ending was absolutely moronic. Insomnia, The Shining, Cujo, the Green Mile. He always takes the easiest way out.

And so it was in the Dark Tower. The easiest way out. I'm not eloquent nor a good writer, so I can't fully express myself on this issue, so this will be my last post in this thread.

The Handmaiden stopped talking to me pretty quickly, she got annoyed with the time I was spending with the blind girl.

Alright, so what did you do to get Bao Dur to become a Jedi? Just kept talking to him? Did you take him around and travel with him? Was that a common theme with those you got to be Jedi, you spent time with them outside the ship to get extra influence? Is it about influence or your light/dark side or what?

I found the ending to be more satisfying than in the first game. It's nice seeing how your companions will go on in their lives, and how your decisions affected the planets you were on. I wish we could've found out more about the Ravager dude, but that could've just been my fault for not getting enough information out of Kreia and the blind girl.

So, before I restart going through Dark Side, I want to figure out a couple things.

Does anyone know what the actual triggers are for you to get your prestige class option from Kreia? Is it level based, planets "solved" based, or influence based? I'm guessing it's either the first or second there.

Also, I never used Atton at all, but my friend told me that in his game, he talked to the guy a lot and used him quite a bit and Atton eventually became a Jedi Sentinel. Can any of your other companions become Jedi? Is that influence based? Does Atton always become a Sentinel, or does he become the kind of Jedi that your character is? I'd like to have a companion who's a Jedi Guardian if possible.

Finally got a prestige class right after I made level 15. Think it was like level 6 in the last game? Got it and the saber at the same time so big boost in power.

Really? I'm level 16, almost 17, and have had a lightsaber for quite sometime, but no prestige class options. Where did that happen for you? I've been to Dantoine and Korriban and am now on the crime world.

The series is a tragedy of the the greatest tragedy our or time. I dont see how you did not see that coming.

I didn't see it coming because King didn't foreshadow it. It's crap justification you're using because you disagree with my opinion. Stephen King has said in every interview I've read that he had no idea how he this series was going to end until he started pushing through the last 3 books.

7 hours in, no lightsaber yet. I skipped the tutorial though, I knew that was going to be a grind. I've finally reached the point where I can fly anywhere and do anything, so that's cool. But, I'd sure like a lightsaber.

After sleeping on it, I woke up today with the thoughts that what really pissed me off about the ending was that it was lazy. Lazy and a copout. I didn't feel this huge surprise, instead it was just another non-sensical crappy King ending. I completely disagree with whomever said the ending was forshadowed in book 1. King almost never has any idea how his books will end, especially not that far in advance. Lazy, stupid garbage ending.

King can castigate me in his afterward about it being all about the journey. Blah blah bloo. But knowing that it was all meaningless, that it was all for nothing... no. Absolutely not. Screw you Mr. King. Those final ten pages have destroyed the previous 7000 for me.

It doesn't help that the eternal time-loop of pain is also my own private vision of hell.

I initially had the same thoughts. What else is there to do in this game after I retired my first captain. Then I decided I'm going to play a game and establish English dominance throughout the area. That was a blast and a bitch, but it was just as fun as the first time through. Next up, I'm going to be a peaceful Dutch trader and romance and get as rich as possible. I love this game!

My wife and father-in-law want to deep fat fry a prime rib tonight and are also debating throwing in some potatos into the fryer. My google-fu is weak and revealing nothing on this subject, except for recipes for deep-fried sweet potatos and french fries.

I must revise my impression of the game. My inital impression was one of Gaming Lite. Basically several easy game play segments placed in an attractive package. However I've gotten more hooked on it. The quest and story really bring this game alive and add an addicitive quality to it.

Perfect way to describe the game. My initial impression too was that this was kind of a simple game, there wasn't much too it. But, the addictivness of the gameplay combined with the questing system really pulls it all into a juicy package of gaming goodness.

The company wouldn't need to be flush with that much money, you can get get financing to make those kinds of purchases. My company received financing to purchase a website that cost in the million+ range, putting down about 30% of the purchase price. It just requires finding the right bank (or investors) who can be shown the value of what you're buying so they know they can recoup their investment in case of default.

Now... can anyone weigh in on how this purchase would affect Firaxis if, in fact, Firaxis didn't make the purchase?

I would like to know what the heck everyone was getting so anxious over, if the coffin only held a mummy. Maybe it was just everyone sensing the building up of tension between the various sides in LA.

Frankly, that disappointed me a bit. The whole ending was a let-down, as was the last 20% of the game, which, for me, seemed to degenerate into typical FPS crapola. The first 80% of the game was great enough that it was still an enjoyable experience, but the last part of the game was a grind.

I really like the difficulty levels, finding your sweet spot is easy. If the game you're playing isn't difficult enough, just boost it up when you divide the spoils. You then get used to the next difficulty level and can bump it up again after that.

I hate dancing. Grrr. I wish I could find me those shoes that give you a chance to not make a mistake when you press the wrong key when dancing.

Do you mean shoes in the game as a bonus item? Hey, if that's available I might be more amenable to getting this game. I suck at the whole "hit this key right now" kind of stuff. Don't know how many times in Half-Life I tried to shoot someone with a crowbar.

Yes, there are shoes in the game you get as a bonus item that make it so that you dance better. Press the wrong button and there's a chance you won't screw up. Supposedly. I still haven't found them.

On the bright side, I've gotten a lot better at this dancing thing. I still don't like doing it, but you get used to it by listening to the music for keys to what's coming in addition to the signals the woman gives you.

Ditto. Can someone weigh in on what this means to Firaxis? I've read about them working on Civ 4. Did another company just buy the rights to THAT game an the future Civs that Firaxis does? I'm really surprised that Firaxis doesn't already own the rights to Civ.

It's pretty freakishly addictive. I started a game at 3 PM, and messed around for "just a bit," before my wife asked me what I wanted for dinner as it was suddenly 6 PM. That's a fantastic quality.

I hate dancing. Grrr. I wish I could find me those shoes that give you a chance to not make a mistake when you press the wrong key when dancing.

Fencing is cool though, I have the hang of it now. I'm not sure what makes your guy skilled, as the previous poster mentioned, but getting used to their motions so that you can react and being offensive are the keys to success.

Fun game overall. Pretty simple, not sure it'll keep me entertained for quite as long as Vampire Bloodlines, but I also don't think it'll frustrate me like VB did.